How to learn flex?

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flex

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+16 Q:

How to learn flex?

So I'm starting an internship as a Flex developer in ~2weeks thanks to a friend of mine. The thing is I know squat about Flex - it is an internship after all so I'm supposed to learn there, but nonetheless I want to have some basic understanding of Flex before I start (eventually I want to become a JEE/Flex dev).

So my question is simple, which book(s) would you recommend me to start with? Are there any "must have" books, like let's say "Thinking in C++" for C++ etc.? I already heard about a few video tutorials and I will surely check them out but I'd also want to get some decent books.

+4 A:

I think a tool that you should always have around you (not just as a beginner) is Tour de Flex - an illustrated reference tool which provides you a broad view of what is available in Flex: http://www.adobe.com/devnet/flex/tourdeflex/

Also, another good resource would be "Learning Flex 3" From O'Reilly Media.

alexb 2010-01-23 12:29:15

+17 A:

For getting started with AIR and Flex:

This link contains free online videos about flex ,it is very useful for learn flex quickly

www.Adobe.com

Essential Guide for Flex,

http://www.ebook3000.com/The-Essential-Guide-to-Flex-3_21697.html

For Flex:

Programming Flex 3,

http://www.amazon.com/Programming-Flex-Comprehensive-Creating-Applications/dp/0596516215/

ActionScript

Essential ActionScript 3,

http://www.amazon.com/Essential-ActionScript-3-0/dp/0596526946/

(considered the ActionScript bible)

The Beginners guide, http://www.ebooksdownloadfree.com/Flash-and-Flex/Flex-3-A-Beginners-Guide-BI269.html

This link contain tutorial of flex, http://www.diesel-ebooks.com/cgi-bin/item/0321482972/Adobe-Flex-2-Training-from-the-Source-eBook.html

This link contain how to learn flex for all level learners,

http://seantheflexguy.com/blog/2009/02/27/how-do-i-learn-flex/

http://www.squidoo.com/adobeflex

Learning Paths | Adobe Flex Developer Center

https://www.adobe.com/devnet/flex/learn/

Hope that helps..This will surely help u..Try now..

ratty 2010-01-23 12:35:02

first link, page not found

zdmytriv 2010-01-23 18:34:26

http://www.ebooksdownloadfree.com/Flash-and-Flex/Flex-3-A-Beginners-Guide-BI269.html try this also

ratty 2010-01-24 14:41:21

+1 for Programming Flex book.

Sam 2010-02-04 05:06:06

@ratty: I moved the Learning Paths link as it seemed better there, but otherwise I tried not to change what you meant.

Roger Pate 2010-02-08 13:19:27

@Roger, don't worry, after 45 earlier edits I doubt ratty knows what (s)he meant. (Well, see also http://meta.stackoverflow.com/questions/38655/how-to-deal-with-question-bumping)

Arjan 2010-02-08 21:53:06

+1 for "Programming Flex 3" and "Essential ActionScript 3"

John Isaacks 2010-02-16 21:10:53

You can definitely do Flex without FlexBuilder, but you'd be at a serious disadvantage. Also FlexBuilder has a demo which you can use until you start your job.

On that note, the start page in FlexBuilder has links to tutorials on just about every aspect of Flex. Using those tutorials along with the Flex help and Googling ActionScript concepts is more than enough to get you going. These tutorials are here, too.

If you insist on books, the standard texts like Learning Flex 3 from O'Reilly are great, but I believe the tutorials are much more direct (i.e., faster for you).

Edit: As commenters have pointed out, autocomplete is:

For the weak. The strong use vi and just know the language well. I am weak, though, so:
IntelliJ does autocomplete for Flex well, according to Justin Standard.

Yar 2010-01-23 12:41:23

I wouldn't put so much emphasis on FlexBuilder... What significant disadvantage would you be at? Even with FlexBuilder you need to be familiar with the command-line (sdk + ant, etc) tools because it's likely you'll need to setup an automated build process at some point.

thenduks 2010-01-26 12:27:36

@thenduks, eprhaps you're right but I've found that for autocomplete and for UI building, Flexbuilder is necessary.

Yar 2010-01-26 13:16:46

I have no use at all for auto-complete (besides, there are vim plugins for that). As for UI building... that's what MXML is for...? We built back-end admin tools and front-end user UI using only the SDK and let me just say I'm glad I wasn't forced to use Windows and pay for FlexBuilder. Besides, even if you do prefer FlexBuilder just for the UI and because you want an IDE to hold your hand, how do you deploy? What are your build scripts doing? You still need to have and know how to use the sdk.

thenduks 2010-01-26 14:49:15

Good points thenduks, thanks for that.

Yar 2010-01-26 15:05:16

And for those who insist you MUST have FlexBuidler for autocomplete - IntelliJ Idea 8 has plenty good IDE functions for flex. (Including autocomplete). No FlexBuilder needed.

Justin Standard 2010-02-01 08:06:09

Thanks @Justin Standard, I have adjusted my answer for this. I though IntelliJ was for Java....?

Yar 2010-02-01 11:25:04

IntelliJ started as a java IDE -- just like eclipse. But the newer versions have the concept of "facets". Most of the facets are java related... (EJB, Spring, etc) but there is a Flex facet. You just have to point it to your SDK and it works very passably as a flex/air IDE. I don't know if the new flashbuilder coming out will be better, but at the time we started IntelliJ had better flex support than flex builder itself.

Justin Standard 2010-02-02 06:55:23

@Justin Standard, thanks for that. I might give IntelliJ another whirl at some point. I'm always looking for IDEs.

Yar 2010-02-02 12:21:16

@Yar - FYI IntelliJ just released a free community edition. I already have a license for the pay edition, so I haven't tried the community edition and don't know the differences. But just so you're aware, it is out there.

Justin Standard 2010-02-03 19:13:06

@yar :) I'm not saying you're weak for using/wanting autocomplete, just that I find myself in the api docs _anyway_ and just end up annoyed at the popup doohickeys that autocomplete implies.

thenduks 2010-02-03 22:58:36

@thenduks, I'm pleased that you answered. Point taken. Personally I make very complex OO structures and without autocomplete I have to look at my code way too much. I am an autocomplete junky, especially in Java.

Yar 2010-02-04 00:37:59

How does this answer about being able to use Flex w/o FlexBuilder apply to the question? The OP only asks about learning Flex, he never says he doesn't have FlexBuilder. He just asks for book recommendations.

Sam 2010-02-04 05:09:42

Thanks @Sam, that is a good point. However, I think you're being overly literal. He's asking for books because that's what you use for languages that no one owns. Flex, owned by Adobe, is much better served by their tutorials which they put together.

Yar 2010-02-04 12:22:10

@yar, I totally disagree with you there. Everyone has their own preferred way to learn a language. Some people like books. I like books. Whether the language is open source or "owned" by any particular company has no impact on how someone likes to learn a language.

Sam 2010-02-04 16:29:24

Okay @Sam, thanks for that.

Yar 2010-02-04 19:25:16

+1 A:

I read Adobe Flex 3: Training from the Source as my first Flex book.

You might also think about getting a membership to Safari Books Online. Then you can read several different books at a time on different topics and not have to buy the actual books. If a book you picked sucks then you can pick another one and not waste another 40-50 dollars.

FYI - These expenses are tax deductable so hag onto the reciepts.

Trevor 2010-01-23 13:30:32

+3 A:

I suggest Flex in a Week for the new Beta. Everybody willing to learn Flex should start with Flex 4 in my opinion.

Thomas 2010-01-23 18:31:20

+1 A:

One of my favorite books is by James Ward who is pretty active here on Stack Overflow and works as an evangelist at Adobe - http://www.amazon.com/First-Steps-Flex-Bruce-Eckel/dp/0981872506

He wrote it with Bruce Eckel so if you liked thinking in C++, then this might be a good book for you. I think James has some free copies to give away, so if you drop me an email I can check with him and potentially have one sent out to you.

=Ryan [email protected]

ryanstewart 2010-01-23 21:35:47

I second the nod to O'Reilly's "Learning Flex 3"

If it helps, I was once in your shoes: I was hired by my company because of my Java skills, but my first project assignment with them was Flex/ BlazeDS. I was given the info one Friday at about 2pm and had to return Monday morning ready to start. That was six months ago. No, I did not learn everything that first weekend, but by week two I was up to swing with the rest of the team.

Wade 2010-01-23 23:47:53

Depending how you learn, you may want to check out The Flex Show, which is a podcast with audio interviews and screencasts:

http://www.theflexshow.com

We have over 6 hours of screencasts in 15 minute blocks and almost 100 episodes of audio, ranging from 30-60 minutes.

www.Flextras.com 2010-01-29 14:57:06

I've read several books on Flex. And, for learning the basics, there are two I recommend:

Flex Solutions:Essential Techniques for Flex 2 and 3 Developers - Marco Casario
Essential ActionScript 3.0 - Colin Moock

With these two books you can learn a lot about MXML and ActionScript 3.

blog.flexexamples.com is also really valuable!

Bryan Clover 2010-02-03 02:11:33

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